PANIC (FROM ASHES TO NEW) ALBUM REVIEW
In the late 90’s till the mid 2000’s, nu metal as a genre was storming the dimension of rock music by incorporating the elements of rap music. From bands like Linkin Park to Korn in the early 2000’s to later bands like Godsmack and Disturbed was beginning to be associated with the whole Nu Metal thing.
As a genre, nu metal is a form of Alternative music with down tuned guitars, percussive riffs, shouting or screaming in the verse and chorus and hunting cleans or rap in the harmonies. Most of the Rap rock or rapcore and nu metal acts were often aided by two vocalists, most notably Linkin Park which had Late Chester Bennington on lead vocals and Rapper Mike Shinoda on Rap.
But with the coming years and modernity in the realm of metal, old school vibe of nu metal became stagnant, or that what people thought. Because nu metal as a genre didn’t died but got evolved.
In the modern scenario however, nu metal found its way into Thrash metal with bands like Body Count, Hardcore with bands like Stray From The Path, Stick To Your Guns and Upon a Burning Body or straight away into Groove metal with Bands like Jinjer, Infected Rains and Spoil Engine or towards Progressive metal with bands like Hacktivist and Volumes or into the realm of post hardcore with bands like I, Prevail or Annisokay.
But people still needed the old school vibe of nu metal instead of Nu Metalcore or Nu metal revival.
And so in my recent discovery, I found a band who brought both modernity and the old
school vibe to the once stagnant genre and that band is of course From Ashes to New, who have put out five discs since their career and the latest being Panic.
Panic as an album took me back to the 2000 era of Nu Metal since the album had that similar sound of what I once heard in the albums like Meteora by Linkin Park or Infest by Papa Roach.
The album opens up with the song, “scars that I’m hiding” that features Anders Friedan of the Swedish Metal band In Flames and has a strong Alternative post hardcore vibe to it and then follows to the song “Brick” that is underlined with a strong rap part and an anthemic chorus, which of course reminds of something I would listen in a Papa Roach record from their early era. “Panic” the title song from the album that was also released as a single is a song about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and is a strong and standout one. But the one song that caught my attention from the album is of course, “Bulletproof” that is a major throwback to the early era of Nu Metal with bit of Imagine Dragons like chops.
Composition wise and musically the album just feels fresh to the ear and yeah, this is Nu Metal revival but is also as experimental as it can get, since the album keeps nu metal as a base but also delves into the realm of Punk, Pop rock, Alternative Metal, metalcore, Post hardcore and Rapcore.
However, at one point the formula might get a bit jarring and people might end up getting too much of Linkin Park and lesser amount of From Ashes To New into it, since it carries a lot of Linkin Park like influences.
Nevertheless it is a solid record and which is why I believe that like their peers from I, Prevail, Annisokay, Volumes or any of such acts, From Ashes To New is one such bands that can bring back Nu Metal to the metal realm once again and so I strongly recommend the fans of the genre to listen to Panic and You will not regret it.
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